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Side Hustlo Pro

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Welcome to the very first episode of Side Hustle Pro. In this episode I’ll share the vision for this podcast and tell you more about me, your host Nicaila Matthews. You’ll hear why quitting my first job at 24, a rejection from Google and taking the path less traveled inspired me to create and grow my side hustle into a profitable brand. &nbsp;Plus, I’ll tell you what to expect each week on the show and give you a sneak peek at our first guest.

Ep 1: Introducing Side Hustle Pro

Today’s guest is Genese Jamilah, Founder of I Don’t Do Clubs, a successful events and lifestyle blog that caters to African American &nbsp;professionals across the country. In 2015, Genese also created the popular Must Love Beards Day Party Series and the first ever Black-Owned Restaurant Month. You’ll hear how Genese built I Don’t Do Clubs into a profitable business and how she got her brand and coins in formation to prepare to leave her day job.

Ep 2:  Genese Jamilah, Founder of I Don't Do Clubs, on When To Turn Your Side Hustle Into Your Main Hustle

What goes into the making of a Venture Capitalist? Wharton graduate and Michigan MBA Stefanie Thomas shifted from a career in banking at Citigroup to centering her passions around support for under-resourced entrepreneurs. But the road to VC was not always clear. Learn about the key experiences she gained at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, the steps she took to feed her entrepreneurial fire, and the way she set herself on the path to Senior Associate with Impact America Fund.

Ep 3:  Stefanie Thomas, Impact America Fund, on Breaking Down The Doors Of Venture Capital

The words "Side Hustle" means different things to everyone. In this episode I’m breaking down:  The real definition of a side hustle How to tap into your talents to determine what your side hustle should be 5 steps you can take to get started on&nbsp;your side hustle TODAY

Ep 5: What Is A Side Hustle And How Do I Get One?

The number one question I get asked is how to leverage social media to build a brand. When people ask me this, I know that they're really searching for a quick and dirty shortcut to get thousands of followers without having to put in a lot of work. Well I hate to break it to you, but there's no way to build an engaged social media audience without consistent and authentic effort. With over seven years of professional experience as a social media marketing strategist, I've learned firsthand the challenges that come with trying to keep up with changing platforms and algorithms. If you want to be successful in social media, you have to abandon the 'I want to make something that will go viral’ mentality because that's not how it works. On this episode, I'm providing a detailed blueprint for how to grow an active and engaged social media following. I'm going to go over step by step what I've done to grow my own social media accounts and I'll provide a full checklist of resources to measure and grow your social channels, but don't worry, you don't need to take a lot of notes because I've created a downloadable freebie for this episode. So if you go to sidehustlepro.co/episode7 you can see the show notes from this episode and get the FREE step by step checklist for the Side Hustle Pro Social Media Toolkit. My special guest on this episode is&nbsp;Muoyo Okome, Founder of Daily Spark Media &amp; the Daily Spark Entrepreneur Community, who details how he was able to grow his account from a little under 600 followers to 25,000 in less than a year by studying his Instagram insights. He used the data on the most liked and most commented posts to plan his content strategy and explode his social media audience. Show notes from this week's episode: SideHustlePro.co/Episode7 Click here to subscribe via RSS feed (non-iTunes feed): http://sidehustlepro.libsyn.com/rss

Ep 7: How to Explode Your Social Media Audience With 5 Steps And Zero Dollars

In 2009, Courtney Sanders found herself drowning in debt, bad grades, and almost having to leave college. Three years later, she had paid off all her debt, earned a scholarship, started a business and graduated from college magna cum laude. How did she turn her life around? Find out on this week’s episode. Courtney is an entrepreneur, speaker, and goal ­achievement specialist.&nbsp;Through her training and development company, Think &amp; Grow Chick, LLC, Courtney provides online &amp; in-­person education, mentorship, and community for women, students, and minorities looking to accomplish BIG goals. Courtney reaches nearly 50,000 young professionals every month through her blog and social media platforms. In 2015 she authored the book, Get What You Want: The Ultimate Guide to Figuring Out + Getting What You Want in Life which has since served as a catalyst for several related trainings and programs, including her 2015 live workshop, Launch Your Life. In this this episode, Courtney breaks down:  The inspiration for Think And Grow Chick and when she realized she could help other women How she grew her company into a profitable business How she juggles her side hustle with her full time job The financial wisdom she has learned along the way When she knew it was time to take her side hustle to the next level  Find out about all Courtney’s experience as a woman who has scaled her side hustle to extraordinary levels and is getting ready to make the leap into full time entrepreneurship. Links mentioned in this episode: Think And Grow Chick website Think And Grow Chick Instagram &nbsp;

Ep 10: From Drowning in Debt to Making 5 Figures A Month: Courtney Sanders of Think and Grow Chick

What’s it like to be a 13-year seasoned blogger in the age of Instagram and Snapchat Influencers? On this episode I sit down for a conversation with Luvvie Ajayi to talk Branding 101. Luvvie is is a writer, digital strategist and creator of entertainment and humor blog AwesomelyLuvvie.com. As a fellow writer and avid blogger, I’ve always been inspired by Luvvie’s journey to full-time entrepreneur. She started her blog after peer pressure from friends who recognized her talent. After starting as a casual blogger, she slowly increased to blogging more than once a week. Three years in, she was working a 9 to 5 then blogging from 7 to 9 like a true side hustler. Though she was getting paid zero dollars, her first blogging award in 2009 made her realize maybe she was on to something. The rest, as they say, is history. Now Luvvie is getting ready to debut her first book, called I’M JUDGING YOU: The Do Better Manual, which is available on September 16 (or earlier if you pre-order). FYI, I talked to Luvvie a few months ago for a Q&amp;A before I launched my podcast. There we covered more of her background and how she got started. Check out part one here: then tune in to the episode. On this episode we discuss:  Why you shouldn’t be so consumed with the idea of you being a brand Why you need to be so good they can’t ignore you How to make sure you’re prioritizing solid content over marketing How to negotiate with brands once you get to that level The real deal with how she approaches brand partnerships and her certified deal breakers  MORE FROM LUVVIE:  I’m Judging You AwesomelyLuvvie Awesomely Techie  MORE FROM NICAILA:  SideHustlePro.co Side Hustle Pro Community  CONNECT WITH US ON INSTAGRAM:  Side Hustle Pro – @sidehustlepro Luvvie – @luvvie #SideHustlePro

Ep 14: Branding 101 with Luvvie Ajayi, Creator of AwesomelyLuvvie and Author of ‘I’m Judging You’

I’m checking in with an update on all things social media marketing: Specifically, Instagram. I have heard many of you ask: How can I organically grow my audience on Instagram? I see this question come up in most of the groups I am in and with most entrepreneurs. Now in Episode 7, I broke down How to Grow Explode Your Social Media Audience with Five Steps and Zero Dollars. There, I went step by step through my methodology and the steps I used to grow my Instagram over 1000% in a year. 

Today, I am here with updates, updates. As you know, you miss a day you miss A LOT when it comes to social media. Case in point: The last time we spoke, there was no Instagram stories and certainly no Instagram LIVE. 

On this episode, we will get into:  
What’s working and what’s not on Instagram
How to find your target audience on Instagram - *NEW INSIGHTS*
Why you CAN start a business on Instagram
What you can accomplish with even 30 minutes a day on Instagram
The number one reason why your following is NOT growing  

BONUS: I've created a LIVE Masterclass, Get The Gram on December 21 to show you the 5 Steps To Grow An Engaged Following On Instagram. Register here: http://www.sidehustlepro.co/getthegram

Ep 28: Instagram 101: How To Grow Your Followers And Find Your True Fans

Today on the show, I am introducing you to my best kept secret: the woman who has taught me to turn my knowledge into a valuable, premium course.
Her name is Danielle Leslie and she founded Culture Add™ Labs to help companies and individuals uncover their Culture Add™ and launch profitable products online. She is also the creator of #CourseFromScratch, an 8-week online intensive that helps people create & launch their profitable & poppin’ online courses.

She has been an online marketer in Silicon Valley for almost 10 years and helped personal brands & influencers, including Guy Kawasaki, earn collectively millions of dollars by launching their online courses.

One of the reasons I wanted to have Danielle on the show is because her framework for course launches addresses our common human tendency to get stuck on the preparation part and delay your launch.

She teaches people like myself to not fall into the trap of creating your course content all before you’re ready to launch and instead, focus on what she calls the 4Cs. She breaks this all down in her masterclass, which you can sign up for at SideHustlePro.co/CourseFromScratch if you are interested.

In my own case, I have wanted to launch a podcast training program for almost a year, and I have been dragging my feet because:

I was overwhelmed with the thought of breaking all of the content down
I knew it was really valuable information that could make people thousands of dollars and thus I knew I would need to charge a premium price point (and I was SCARED to set that premium price point)

I turned to Danielle and with her guidance, I launched my podcast accelerator as an invite only program in February and it’s been an AMAZING experience so far.

What I’ve learned from Danielle is:
Focusing on creating a course that truly meets your student’s needs, means creating it with their active feedback, not creating it in a vacuum without their input 
I’ve also learned that it’s not going to be perfect the first time you do it so you have to get down to business and start, so you can improve.

On today’s episode, Danielle gets into:
Her straight line to the cash formula that shatters the most popular course creation narrative
The tools she used to do a $20,000 course launch in 60 days with no email list
Her MVC method to not overthink your launch and to pre-sell your course
How her online course made $25,000 alone in one month on Instagram...and how it has exploded since then.
As this episode premieres, Danielle just crossed the $100,000 mark, her first six figure month. And in today’s episode, she breaks down how she’s quickly approaching $1M in revenue this year

If you want to learn how Danielle’s online course made $100,000 in one month alone from Instagram listen to this entire episode, and remember to sign up for her Course From Scratch class at SideHustlePro.co/CourseFromScratch.

Announcements
Side Hustle Pro is now over 5600 members strong. If you’re looking for a community of supportive side hustlers who are all working to take our businesses to the next level, join us here: http://sidehustlepro.co/facebook

Social Media Info
Danielle Leslie - @DanielleLeslie
Side Hustle Pro – @sidehustlepro
#SideHustlePro

Ep 85: Danielle Leslie Is Growing Her Online Course into a Million Dollar Business

Hi Guys, I’m back with a check-in. Hear how my first quarter of entrepreneurship went. I share how I’m learning to master my self, master my time (now that there is so much more of it!), master my energy and so much more. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher and  Google Play Links mentioned on this episode  The Gifts of Imperfection Born A Crime More Active Lifestyle  Click here to subscribe via RSS feed (non-iTunes feed): http://sidehustlepro.libsyn.com/rss Announcements Side Hustle Pro is now over 5950 members strong. If you’re looking for a community of supportive side hustlers who are all working to take our businesses to the next level, join us here: http://sidehustlepro.co/facebook Social Media Info Connect on Instagram Side Hustle Pro – @sidehustlepro

Ep 91: Entrepreneur Diaries: I'm My Own Boss, Now What?

Up until this year, the last quarter of every year always felt like the most stressful for me. This year is the first year that that's not the case for me. This year, I got better at getting things done, even under pressure. In this episode I’m sharing some of the biggest mistakes I made when I first started out side hustling and what I've learned from them. It’s important that you understand where I and most successful side hustlers went wrong and what I did to turn it around. These mistakes could have easily been avoided if I had only known how to create a realistic goals setting system. Now, I've mastered the "less talk, more hustle" approach, and it’s what has gotten me results. I spend less time thinking and talking about what I'm going to do and more time actually doing it. I learned to cut out all the fluff that makes you FEEL like you're doing something (to-do lists, buying fancy planners, well organized trello boards) and get down to business. By making these mistakes, I also learned some key lessons as to why most side hustlers aren’t making the progress they anticipated. You’re probably not accomplishing your goal, because you bit off too much or not taking action because you want everything to be perfect and are afraid of making a mistake. If you want more guidance on how to actually get things done, consider learning​ ​my​ ​signature Goal Getter Action Plan​. I can show you how to run a side business in 7 hours per week. In this episode, I break down how you can quit stalling and make moves on your side hustle. Listen through to the end to get more info plus an early bird discount code to my signature Goal Getter Action Plan for just $27. Links mentioned on this episode Goal Getter Action Plan Announcements If you’re looking for a community of supportive side hustlers who are all working to take our businesses to the next level, join us here: http://sidehustlepro.co/facebook Social Media Info Connect on Instagram: Side Hustle Pro – @sidehustlepro  #SideHustlePro

REWIND: How to Run Your Side Hustle in 1 Hour A Day

Today in the guest chair is Angelina Darrisaw Cheeks. Angelina is a social entrepreneur, an international business and career coach and a digital media strategist. As the founder and CEO of C-Suite Coach, a career-coaching platform that provides accessible professional development resources to diverse working professionals, Angelina collaborates with employers to create business solutions that empower and educate teams, as well as retain and engage diverse employees. She also facilitates transformative career workshops and experiences that have reached over 4,000 working and aspiring professionals. Angelina’s company C-Suite Coach has a growing global client footprint with companies and individual entrepreneurs and across the United States, Israel, Australia, Canada, and more. C-Suite Coach has been featured in numerous media outlets, including Business Insider, Fast Company, Forbes, Essence, and more. Angelina also services small businesses as a Google Digital Coach, joining Google in bridging the digital divide by offering free coaching and resources to over 2500 NY-based diverse small businesses. On today’s episode, you will learn how Angelina successfully side hustled and transitioned from her full time role as a Senior Manager of Digital Business Development at Viacom to owning her own business.   Listen on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher and  Google Play Links mentioned on this episode  C-Suite Coach  Click here to subscribe via RSS feed (non-iTunes feed): http://sidehustlepro.libsyn.com/rss Announcements If you’re looking for a community of supportive side hustlers who are all working to take our businesses to the next level, join us here: http://sidehustlepro.co/facebook Social Media Info Connect on Instagram: Angelina Darrisaw Cheeks - @linadarrisaw Side Hustle Pro – @sidehustlepro  #SideHustlePro

Ep 95: From Side Hustler to C-Suite Coach With Angelina Darrisaw Cheeks

Today in the guest chair is Amy Anaiz. Amy is a New York City-based intimate editorial wedding and portrait photographer. Her professional journey began as a talent agent for New York City’s top still-life and beauty photographers where she learned the ins-and-outs of advertising and commercial photography and was surrounded by beautiful images on a daily basis. While representing these top talent photographers, she masterfully integrated this knowledge and experience into her own business and refined her skills as a photographer and was able to grow from side hustler to full time entrepreneurs. &nbsp; Amy is keen on creating beautiful, joyous and heartfelt imagery that tells a story. Her style is focused on connecting with her subjects and capturing the emotion and personality of everyone she works with while using beautiful, flattering light, paying close attention to detail, and ensuring the images are clean. &nbsp; Her work has been featured in Inside Weddings, The New York Times, Brides, Huffington Post, NY Weddings, The Knot, Dropbox, VH1, E!, HBO, TLC, Essence, Munaluchi Bride, BuzzFeed, PopSugar, Grace Ormonde, and Style Me Pretty amongst others. &nbsp; On today’s episode, Amy shares how she carefully and thoughtfully, planned her journey from doing photography on the side to owning her own business. &nbsp; Listen on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher and  Google Play Links mentioned on this episode  Amy Anaiz Photo TAVE booking software Brene Brown  Click here to subscribe via RSS feed (non-iTunes feed): http://sidehustlepro.libsyn.com/rss Announcements If you’re looking for a community of supportive side hustlers who are all working to take our businesses to the next level, join us here: http://sidehustlepro.co/facebook Social Media Info Connect on Instagram: Amy Anaiz - @amyanaizphoto Side Hustle Pro – @sid

Ep 96: How Coveted Photographer Amy Anaiz Turned Her Side Hustle Into A Successful Business

On today’s show, we will hear from a woman who actually got laid off as a result of her hustle. Her name is Tela Holcomb, she is a stocks and options trader, investor and serial entrepreneur. In her own words, she’s financially free and living a life she loves!But, it wasn’t always that way. Like many of us, she had to side hustle, and was dependent on her 9 to 5 to pay the bills. And although she got paid very well it just… her heart wasn’t quite in it. So in 2009, she started learning about trading stocks. She learned a system of trading and investing that had the potential of replacing her paycheck but didn't require her to be behind a computer 8 hours a day. But then, she lost her job. So she got to focused on replacing that income. On today’s episode, she will share how she traded her 9 to 5 and how you can too. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher and  Google Play Links mentioned on this episode  Tela Holcomb Investopedia The Complete Turtle Trader  &nbsp; Click here to subscribe via RSS feed (non-iTunes feed): http://sidehustlepro.libsyn.com/rss Announcements If you’re looking for a community of supportive side hustlers who are all working to take our businesses to the next level, join us here: http://sidehustlepro.co/facebook Social Media Info Connect on Instagram: Tela Holcomb - @telaholcomb Side Hustle Pro – @sidehustlepro  #SideHustlePro

Ep 97: Tela Holcomb Was Fired For Having a Side Hustle Then Taught Herself How To Trade Stocks And Retire Early

Today in the guest chair, we have a certified boss. If you don’t already know this woman, this is a name you need to jot down and follow. Her name is Ebony Pope and she is the Director of US Ventures at Village Capital. She oversees Village Capital’s work in finding and supporting US start-ups in the five sectors that receive investment from Vilcap Investments. Ebony graduated with her MBA from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business in 2015, focusing on strategy and entrepreneurship. While at Ross, she traveled to Tanzania, where she developed and taught a business curriculum for agriculture technology entrepreneurs as an Enterprise Consultant for Land O’Lakes. Additionally, she was Education Circle Director for the Ross’s Social Venture Fund. Prior to Ross, Ebony worked at New Urban Learning, a charter education management company focused on preparing Detroit students to successfully graduate from four-year colleges and universities. She is also a former Googler and holds a B.B.A in Finance from Howard University.  &nbsp; Listen on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher and  Google Play Links mentioned on this episode  Sponsors for Educational Opportunities Village Capital Achievement First Pipeline Angels Kiva loan VC Pathways  The Lean Startup Venture Deals  Click here to subscribe via RSS feed (non-iTunes feed): http://sidehustlepro.libsyn.com/rss Announcements If you’re looking for a community of supportive side hustlers who are all working to take our businesses to the next level, join us here: http://sidehustlepro.co/facebook Social Media Info Connect on Instagram: Side Hustle Pro – @sidehustlepro  #SideHustlePro Connect on LinkedIn: Ebony Pope &nbsp; Connect on Twitter: Ebony Pope - @PopeNotOlivia Side Hustle Pro - @sidehustlepro

Ep 98: How Venture Capitalist Ebony Pope Is Paving The Way For Startups To Get Funding

Today in the guest chair is Janice Bryant Howroyd. Entrepreneur, educator, ambassador, businesswoman, author, and mentor. She is the founder and  Chief Executive Officer of The ACT-1 Group,the largest privately held, woman owned workforce solutions company founded in the U.S.The Act-1 Group also holds a Minority ownership status, and is a multibillion-dollar (USD) award-winning international Talent and Talent Technology enterprise with multiple divisions operating in 19 countries with over 17,000 clients and 2,600 employees worldwide. Howroyd is most well known as being the first African American Woman to build and own a billion dollar company. On today’s episode, you will learn how Janice grew to be the first African American woman to operate a company that generates more than $1 billion in annual revenue.   Listen on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher and  Google Play Links mentioned on this episode  Act-1 Group  Click here to subscribe via RSS feed (non-iTunes feed): http://sidehustlepro.libsyn.com/rss Announcements If you’re looking for a community of supportive side hustlers who are all working to take our businesses to the next level, join us here: http://sidehustlepro.co/facebook This episode is brought to you by ZipRecruiter. With ZipRecruiter, you can post your job to 100 plus job sites with just one click. Right now, My listeners can try ZipRecruiter for FREE, Just go to&nbsp;ZipRecruiter.com/hustle.   This episode is brought to you by Skillshare.&nbsp;&nbsp;Skillshare has a special offer just for my listeners: Get two months of Skillshare for just 99 cents. To sign up, go to&nbsp;Skillshare.com/hustlepro&nbsp;to start your two months now. Social Media Info Connect on Instagram: Side Hustle Pro – @sidehustlepro  #SideHustlePro

Ep 104: Meet Janice Bryant Howroyd: The first African American woman to run a $1-billion business

Hi, I'm Nicaila, a Social Media Marketer turned Side Hustle Pro. I'm also the host of the Side Hustle Pro podcast, the first and only podcast to highlight Black women entrepreneurs who scaled from side hustle to profitable business.